Accident ruling in man's death on train tracks

The death of a man whose mangled body was found beside train tracks on the Southwest Side was ruled an accident, authorities said today.

The dead man was identified as Nikolas Trejo, 36, of an unknown home address, according to the Cook County medical examiner's office.

Employees with the Belt Railway Company of Chicago found Trejo's severely-injured body around 11:30 a.m. Thursday near the tracks on railroad property near the 6600 block of South Kenton Avenue in the city's West Lawn neighborhood, according to Chicago police and railroad officials.

An autopsy performed today confirmed that Trejo died from collision injuries and that the death was accidental. Because of the extent of the injuries, Trejo was identified through fingerprint records, according to a medical examiner's spokesman.

Despite the medical examiner's ruling, police were continuing their investigation and had no details to offer, according to a police spokesman.

Just after the accident, police said they believe the victim was struck by a freight train within two hours of the body being discovered. It remained unclear why the man was on railroad property. Railroad officials weren’t available for comment this afternoon.